Yesterday Aspen announced that they received approval in China for their Alula brand of infant milk formula. The company indicated in their last set of results that they were on track to get the approval, it is still a huge step for the company. You may remember the 2008 Chinese milk scandal, where babies in China died and thousands were hospitalised due to poorly manufactured infant formula. The result of the scandal is that brands matter in China. You would rather pay up for a well know international brand than an unknown local brand.
In years gone by, Aspen's baby formula was purchased in Australia by tourists and then sold in China. Due to regulation changes in China, that changed and resulted in nutritional sales dropping by 8% during the last financial year for Aspen. Having a presence directly in China is an important stepping stone to future growth coming out of the country.